After the corona virus broke out all over the world, the subsequent travel bans have driven the tourism industry worldwide to financial ruin. Many tour operators have therefore paid the customers with vouchers instead of cash as a replacement for unusual trips. Consumer advocates are now advising to use these vouchers for travel bookings as quickly as possible to avoid a risk of loss.
So if you have just received a travel voucher to replace a canceled trip, you should take care of booking a new trip with this voucher as soon as possible.
This is recommended by experienced consumer advocates, who point out that the vouchers of many organizers are not yet protected against bankruptcy. For this reason, there is an increased risk for the holders of the vouchers. If the travel company that issued the voucher goes bankrupt, the voucher would be immediately worthless. However, a package tour booked with the voucher would be covered by the organizer’s insolvency insurance. If the newly booked holiday does not come about due to Corona, customers could also request reimbursement with cash this time.
However, the consumer advice center also admits that some organizers have also secured their vouchers against bankruptcy. So far, however, this has been an exception. The EU Commission recommends that the vouchers be protected against bankruptcy, but has not yet made any legal provision. Package holidaymakers need to know that despite the Corona crisis, they are entitled to reimbursement for paid and non-travel. This reimbursement should be made within 14 days and in the form of cash. At the beginning of the crisis, the German government had suggested that customers should also accept vouchers as payment, but had withdrawn this recommendation after there was opposition from the EU. Nevertheless, many customers have accepted the organizers’ vouchers.
